GCAC: Original IP a tough challenge

In a panel session at the Games Convention Asia Conference, Boomzap's co-founder Allan Simonsen stated his belief that as long as the Asian market was seen, as traditionally, an outsourcing sector only, generating original intellectual property would continue to be a struggle.

The comments came as the panel looked at the challenges of local content development, and there was general agreement that being taken seriously by global publishers could be problematic.

"You have to bridge that [perception] gap before you can even get to the discussion on 'here's my original IP, please publish it.'"

As a result, developers such as New Zealand-based Sidhe Interactive, need to generate additional income in the interim to fund original projects by supplying staff to other companies or taking on contracted work.

However, as Sidhe's managing director Mario Wynands pointed out, there can be positives to that approach — although it might slow down the initial process of creating fresh games, it does yield stronger ties with publishers that can be invaluable when it comes to pitching those new games.

"From that perspective, longer term, I always see our studio to do work for hire, even though we're expecting the weight to shift [towards more original IP.]"

Wynands also noted the importance of keeping a company in the front of a publisher's mind, especially when dealing with teams that may be based on the other side of the world, and recommended focusing efforts on communication in order to be considered for development projects.

"We've taken on that particular challenge by going over the US as much as possible and just staying in their faces."

"We send out press releases, we send out Christmas cards, we send them birthday greetings, occasionally if we do a new run of company T-shirts or get some good New Zealand wine, we'll send that onâ¦"